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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Adverbial order

In Swedish, the adverb has to come in a particular place in a sentence, but reading English sentences has had me notice that the placement of an adverb in a sentence does not follow a fixed rule as it does in Swedish. I may be misinformed, so do correct me should what I have said here be in any way incorrect.

I have only

I only have

I really do not know

I do not really know

Which of these is archaic and which are most natural today?

Thank you teachers!
  

Top answer

All are natural. The placement of an adverb is flexible. These are practically the same: I only have a few minutes to talk.

— AlpheccaStars

  • All are natural.
  • The placement of an adverb is flexible.
  • These are practically the same: I only have a few minutes to talk.
  • I have only a few minutes to talk.
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3 Answers
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All are natural. The placement of an adverb is flexible.
These are practically the same:

I only have a few minutes to talk.
I have only a few minutes to talk.
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AnonymousI have only / I only have
These are nearly always the same in meaning. Many recommend the first, but the second is heard very, very often.
AnonymousI really do not know / I do not really know
The position of the adverb can make a difference when a negative word like 'not' is present.

I really don't kno
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The position of restrictive adverbs in English and their meaning is dependent on context and to some extent word stress.

Consider the answer to the question, "Do you eat meat?"

Native speakers would interpret both "I only eat vegetables" and "I eat only vegetables" as declarations of vegetarianism.

But if the question was "Do you have a vegetable garden?" then the answer
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